Porter Street BungalowCraftsman Exterior, DC Metro

The Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C boasts some of the most beautiful and well maintained bungalows of the late 19th century. Residential streets are distinguished by the most significant craftsman icon, the front porch.Porter Street Bungalow was different. The stucco walls on the right and left side elevations were the first indication of an original bungalow form. Yet the swooping roof, so characteristic of the period, was terminated at the front by a first floor enclosure that had almost no penetrations and presented an unwelcoming face. Original timber beams buried within the enclosed mass provided theonly fenestration where they nudged through. The house,known affectionately as ‘the bunker’, was in serious need ofa significant renovation and restoration.A young couple purchased the house over 10 years ago asa first home. As their family grew and professional livesmatured the inadequacies of the small rooms and out of date systems had to be addressed. The program called to significantly enlarge the house with a major new rear addition. The completed house had to fulfill all of the requirements of a modern house: a reconfigured larger living room, new shared kitchen and breakfast room and large family room on the first floor and three modified bedrooms and master suite on the second floor.

This finish was achieved by a local stucco craftsman, matching the existing condition. Because it was done in a way to match the existing home, we didn't specify an exact technique. However, I can tell you that the finish is quite smooth. Good luck with your home!

Those are the correct colors for this home. It might just be a matter of the photograph making the color look lighter and more gray. If you like the colors here, I would suggest putting up a sample on the side of your home to see what you think. Thanks for your interest!

What Houzz contributors are saying:

Go more modern (with caution). If you’re not a huge fan of the earth tone look, you can go with a more modern gray or “greige,” as shown here. Just keep it a little bit muddy to pay homage to your home’s Craftsman roots, and choose an off-white rather than pure white for trim.Shingle and stucco color: Downing Earth, Sherwin-Williams; trim color: Downing Sand 2822, Sherwin-Williams

The Craftsman became the most popular home style between 1905 and into the 1920s in the U.S., due to the expansion of magazines and the availability of kit homes. Many of these homes had a low-pitched gable roof, a front porch supported by large, tapered columns, an upper-paned door with the windows separated from the lower half of the door by a thick piece of trim, double-hung windows, a single dormer on the front of the house, stone accents and earthy paint colors. Most also had exposed rafter tails and roof beams and knee braces under a deep roof eave.

This remodeled and updated house has tapered wood columns set on stucco pedestals. In contrast to the previous house, the roof formation is a side gable, rather than front facing. A shed dormer penetrates the main roof form. This is a common Craftsman characteristic. Also notice the mixture of stucco and shingle siding.